Hydraulic fracturing has revolutionized the oil and gas industry. The hydraulic fracturing of a geologic formation, such as a geologic formation of an oil/gas well, is also referred to as “fracking,” or to “frac” or “frack” a well. This process typically involves the use of a high pressure pump, such as a frac pump, to apply a high pressure fluid mixture of water and a proppant, which is often sand or other a ceramic proppant, along with other chemicals down the wellbore of an oil or gas well to fracture or crack the geologic formation, such as shale, that contains hydrocarbons that may include oil, condensates, gas, or a combination thereof. The proppant, if properly positioned in one of the fractures induced in the geologic formation, is used to hold the fracture open so that hydrocarbons may be released from the formation. Water and sand comprise the vast majority of the fluid used in fracking a well. In some cases, the water and sand may be over ninety-eight percent of the fluid and materials used in fracking a well, with other chemicals making up less than two percent of the total. Depending on various factors, the fracking of a well may involve the use of millions of gallons of water, which serves as the primary carrier fluid during the fracking process. Once the high pressure mixture is removed, the sand or other proppant remains wedged and positioned in the induced cracks, fissures, or fractures of the geologic formation to allow oil and/or gas to flow more freely.
Hydraulic fracturing is not appropriate or effective in all hydrocarbon geologic formations, but has proven to be very effective and economical in improving hydrocarbon production in tight geologic formations, such as shale formations, which include many geologic formations previously thought not to be economical to produce. Hydraulic fracturing has also proven valuable in stimulating the production of hydrocarbons in certain geologic formations that have been substantially depleted of oil and/or gas using conventional oil and gas production and recovery technologies.
During the hydraulic fracturing process, the liquid, which is usually water, must be available in abundant quantities as the high pressure pump(s) are used to mix the water with the other chemicals and the proppant, which is normally a specialized sand or ceramic material referred to as “frac sand”. If the frac water is depleted or is not available in sufficient quantities during the high pressure hydraulic fracturing process, the expensive high pressure pumps may be damaged, the geologic formation and wellbore may be irreparably harmed, and/or the fracking process will need to be performed again or may be ineffective. Any of these events, individually or in combination, are extremely costly. Thus, it is imperative that the frac water be available in sufficient quantity at all times when needed during the hydraulic fracturing process.
The frac water is normally provided at a wellbore for the hydraulic fracturing process using numerous water tanker trailers or frac water storage containers that must be refilled or maintained at certain levels during the hydraulic fracturing process. The water is generally provided from surface water sources such as lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and municipal water supplies. In other arrangements, impaired water may be used as the water source, which serves as the primary carrier fluid. The source water may be provided locally or at some distance from the well site, and may be stored in a local frac water pond, reservoir, or a frac water containment storage tank. The frac water tanker trailers or frac water storage containers/tanks are generally connected to a manifold so that sufficient source water is provided to each such trailer or tank so that the source water is then made available to the high pressure frac pump(s) at the appropriate time during the frac process. The entire hydraulic fracturing process at a particular drilling pad or location may take anywhere from 12 hours to two months, for example, depending on numerous factors such as, for example, the particular geologic formation, depths, well bore, number of stages, number of laterals (if any), and the desired results.
Unfortunately, the important process of monitoring and controlling the numerous water levels in the various frac water tanker trailers and ensuring that water is properly and timely transferred to the various frac water tanker trailers during the hydraulic fracturing process is time consuming, labor intensive, subject to human error, and expensive. Further, if problems occur during the hydraulic fracturing process with, for example, one of the frac water tanker trailers or connections thereto, the entire frac process may have to be stopped or delayed because of the inability to conveniently and accurately divert source water from such a frac water tanker trailer that is experiencing the problem.